Facial Aesthetic Surgery

The Classic Face Lift

New York, NY (April 19, 2007) — The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) announced today a panel that will discuss facial rejuvenation trends and techniques at the Society’s 40th Anniversary Meeting, being held at the Javits Convention Center in New York City, April 19-24, 2007. “Facial Rejuvenation: What Has Stood the Test of Time?” will be moderated by Robert Singer, MD, Past President of ASAPS, and will include Sherrell Aston, MD, Thomas Baker, MD, Fritz Barton, MD, and Bruce Connell, MD. Facial rejuvenation includes surgical procedures such as face and forehead lifts, as well as non-surgical approaches such as injectable facial fillers. The panelists will be engaged in a lively discussion regarding facial rejuvenation based upon carefully examined technology.

“We work in a cutting edge field, but we need to remember that newer is not always better. There are a number of traditional techniques that are growing in popularity,” said Dr. Singer.

“There are many advances being made in all aspects of aesthetic surgery. Nevertheless, there are some procedures that have stood the test of time and the results obtained decades ago with these techniques are still as good today. Many of the techniques for neck contour correction are based on those that have been developed over the past twenty years, but we have also had successful new developments, including reliable new techniques developed in the past decade to help younger patients with a double chin appearance” said Dr. Connell.

In addition to time proven techniques, panelists will also discuss ways to modify facial rejuvenation procedures for better outcomes, which less invasive procedures really work, and ancillary procedures, such as using facial fillers in tandem with lifting procedures.

“Face-lifting is not just about pulling skin as tight as one can, but, if you still have mottled skin, you do not have a finished product. You would not build a house and forget to paint it. In the same way, ancillaries like injectable fillers, lasers, chemical peels and small minor surgical procedures can really enhance full facelifts,” said Dr. Baker.

According to recent data released from ASAPS, there were 138,245 facelift procedures in 2006, up 39% since 1997 when the Society began tracking data, and 54,149 forehead lifts. In addition, there were over 9.5 million non-surgical facial rejuvenation procedures in 2006, with Botox® (botulinum toxin type A) the top procedure (3,181,592 procedures), followed by hyaluronic acid (1,593,554 procedures).

“Facial rejuvenation has evolved to where we now can permit the surgeon to select the time-proven technique indicated by the patient’s anatomy. We are able to custom design the facelift for each individual,” said Dr. Aston.

“Ideas that have stood the test of time in facial rejuvenation are those been based on sound surgical and medical principles. Although we have modified many of the older techniques, the underlying principles remain,” added Dr. Barton.